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Pulsed Electromagnetic Therapy is Legit

PA asks: “Do you know anything about pulsed electromagnetic therapy? Our Chiropractor wants to use it on my husband to help heal his back pain.”

There is a kind of pulsed electromagnetic therapy (PEMF) that has proven very useful in the field of orthopedics for the treatment of some conditions, particularly those related to bone healing as PEMF is believed to stimulate cellular repair. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved some of these devices.

According to the National Institutes for Health (NIH), PEMF has been around for a century but its use has been slow because of a lack of knowledge about the mechanism of action.

However, a 2009 study reviewed existing literature on various breakthroughs in the current understanding of PEMF therapy and recorded the clinical use of PEMF in plastic surgery. The results were very positive.

“PEMF therapy has been used successfully in the management of postsurgical pain and edema, the treatment of chronic wounds, and in facilitating vasodilatation and angiogenesis,” the study found.

“This review shows that plastic surgeons have at hand a powerful tool with no known side effects for the adjunctive, noninvasive, nonpharmacologic management of postoperative pain and edema. Given the recent rapid advances in development of portable and economical PEMF devices, what has been of most significance to the plastic surgeon is the laboratory and clinical confirmation of decreased pain and swelling following injury or surgery.”

That being said, there are many other forms of electromagnetic therapy out there that have not stood up to the rigors of scientific testing and are being promoted by New Age “energy healers” who claim they can manipulate the balance of these energies through the use of various devices that are not approved by the FDA.

Beware of any therapy referred to as bioelectricity, magnetobiology, magnetic field therapy, and magnetic healing.

If someone has recommended a medical device, check this list to determine if it has been approved for use by the FDA.